Recommendation: If you want to avoid the throngs and just relax over an appetizer or shoot a game of pool with a friend, the earlier the better. Crowds are thickest on Fridays and Saturdays. On these nights, get there early if you want to get the best parking. Off-street parking is available nearby, plus spots adjacent to the building.

There's a great big county out there with a vibrant night life.

Yes, you heard it right. There is life after hours in Snohomish County, home to a slew of sports bars, neighborhood crawls and dance clubs that heat up once the sun goes down.

In the second installment of our series, we look at Turners in Everett.

Turners is something of an institution in downtown Everett. For more than 25 years, this bar and grill has been a fixture at Broadway and Hewitt Avenue.

No doubt its across-the-street proximity to the new Everett Events Center, which will host the Everett Silvertips' first home game Saturday, will be fortuitous for the bar and grill. Not that Turners necessarily needs the extra promotional nudge — it has no problem packing people in. Part sports bar, part dance club, Turners has a clientele that runs from baby boomers to the just-over-21 set.

Though Turners is known as a good place to dance or hang out with friends over drinks, it includes a restaurant open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The menu includes appetizers, soups, salads and burgers.

For those who have two left feet and are sheepish about stepping out on the dance floor, pool, video games and darts offer alternatives. On a recent weekday trip to Turners, a friend and I tried billiards and darts. For 50 cents, we played a match of electronic darts before heading over to shoot a game of pool (75 cents).

Turners doesn't have live music but does have a live person — a disc jockey — spinning a cross-section of genres: the goofy rap-rock of the Bloodhound Gang, Kid Rock, Metallica and 1980s pop. Seattle radio-station DJs also regularly appear during the week for live broadcasts, which typically mean bigger crowds.

Whether you hit Turners on a slow weeknight or a slamming Saturday night, what makes it a popular hangout is its laid-back atmosphere. And the friendly staff, Autrey said.

"I think it's our crew. We are all family-oriented, and we make it run smoothly."

Turners is also popular with the downtown business crowd for weekday lunches and early dinners. Those who don't like the typical bar scene can come in during the day or early evening, before the rush arrives.